Megan Moroney officially has a new title to add to her ever-growing collection of accolades.
But unfortunately for the pink-loving Georgia star, she’s already well aware of how some people are going to view the accomplishment. At just 28 years old, Moroney has spent the year traveling the world, selling out arenas and building a fiercely devoted fan base of “emo cowgirls” who essentially participate in group therapy every night on her Cloud 9 Tour, screaming back every word to her diary-like hits.
Hence why, as the “Tennessee Orange” singer prepares to wrap up the final European stop of her tour tomorrow night in Belfast, she’ll return home with yet another impressive title under her belt: one of TIME’s “Most Influential Rising Stars” in the world.
The publication unveiled its annual TIME100 Next list earlier today, recognizing 100 rising figures across several categories, including innovators, phenoms, advocates, leaders and artists. Joining the likes of football royalty, Arch Manning, actress Joey King, and comedian Druski, Moroney is the only country music artist noted on the list.
Following TIME’s tradition for each of its “100” features, every honoree receives a personal tribute written by a fellow celebrity peer. For Moroney, those kind words came from Canadian pop superstar Tate McRae.
McRae has had quite a few of her own ties to the country world as of late, including the backlash she received over her association with Morgan Wallen following their hit collaboration, “What I Want.” Yet, despite that mind-numbing controversy, the Calgary native has continued to embrace her country-girl side, recently spotted dancing along to Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” at one of her Dandelion Tour stops and joining Moroney on stage a handful of times, with the two set to reunite again for an upcoming appearance at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
In her letter of recommendation for Moroney, she detailed how the country princess has “somehow figured out how to turn terrible men into extremely successful songs, which is both a talent and an incredible public service”— ie Moroney’s fan-favorite heartbreak anthem, “Who Hurt You?”. McRae continued her compliment, saying, “Throughout her latest album, she tells stories that are incredibly specific and personal, and somehow make millions of people swear she wrote them about their lives. That kind of songwriting is rare, and watching her connect with people through it is really special.”
The Grammy-nominated artist finished her message off noting, “There is no one more deserving of all the success she is having right now.” While that may very well be true, Moroney braced herself for the opposite reaction from fans, knowing all too well how quickly people online can try to discredit her success.
We shared the accomplishment on Instagram earlier today, and she swiftly popped up in the comment section of the Country Chord post, stating, “oof the haters are NOT gonna like this one.” Considering there’s always bound to be a slew of angry trolls trying to tear down Moroney’s success, that statement unfortunately rings all too true. Still, I’ve got to give her props for having the hilarious clapback ready to go before they could even get started.
Luckily, I think this time around, Moroney’s early presence in the comment section helped ward off a lot of the inevitable negativity. Of course, a few hate comments still managed to sneak through, and I have no doubt there are people somewhere on the internet finding a way to tear down the accomplishment.
Luckily, for the most part, though, her response seemed to rally her loyal supporters, who flooded the comment section with praise:
While I have to applaud Moroney’s self-awareness and her ability to laugh off the online backlash, I still hope she takes a moment to celebrate the small win, even if it is no more than a solid bragging right.